Poker Essentials – Analyzing The Board Texture in Texas Holdem Poker
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- Published May 14th, 2010 in Poker Strategy & Tips
There are a few things every good Texas Holdem poker player has to be able to do, and one of the most important is to be able to analyze the board texture. The board texture refers to how high the rank, as well as how coordinated -both sequentially and in terms of suited-the community cards are.
It’s the board texture-as well as other factors like your opponent, your own hand, your position, and so on– will help you decide what the best course of action will be. In this article I will explain the two main types of boards you will have to deal with as well as the different subsets in these two categories.
Board texture is even more important in raised pots. In a limped pot your opponents are likely to hold anything, but when the pot is raised you have to assume that the average card rank in your opponents hands has gone up (obviously this is a generalization, and you need to carefully weigh the specific opponent you are pitted against).
Dry Boards
A dry board is when the flop is not very coordinated, either sequentially or in terms of being suited, and contains zero or one high cards, or a pair. Some specific examples of Dry Boards are:
Mono-Tone Boards – Mono-Tone Boards, also known as Rainbow flops, are when the board contains three different suits.
Ragged Boards – Ragged Boards are when the flop contains no face-cards and isn’t overly coordinated, such as 9-6-2.
Paired Boards – A Paired Board is even less likely to hit your opponent since there are basically only two cards on the flop instead of 3. Additionally, the lower the pair the less likely it is a player flopped trips.
Wet Boards
Wet boards are when the cards that flop are more likely to be in what is known as “the playing zone”. Wet boards are fairly coordinated and contain multiple high-cards.
Examples of Wet Boards are:
Two-Tone and Suited Boards – Two-Tone boards are when the flop contains two cards of the same suit. Suited boards are when all three cards are suited. In both cases players will more likely be drawing to flushes.
Coordinated Boards – Coordinated Boards are when all three cards on the flop are very close sequentially, such as 8-T-J or 9-Q-K. The more coordinated the board, the easier you should tread.
Blackjack Boards – A blackjack board is when two of the cards on the flop are a Ten through Ace. These cards are right in a player’s “Playing Zone” of hands, especially if there was a raise pre-flop.
The “Wetter” the board the harder you need to hit it to feel comfortable with your hand. For instance if you have AQ and the board is a mono-tone Q-9-4 you have a pretty strong hand; if you have AQ and the flop is a two-tone Q-J-4, you still have a fairly strong hand but will not be as comfortable as in the first case; furthermore, if you have AQ and the flop is a two-tone Q-J-9, your hand is marginal at best in this instance.
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